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Characterizing Rabies Epidemiology in Remote Inuit Communities in Québec, Canada: A “One Health” Approach

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Abstract

Rabies is endemic throughout arctic areas including the region of Nunavik, situated north of the 55th parallel of Québec, Canada, and raises public health concerns. The aim of this paper is to provide a descriptive overview of the temporal and regional distributions of three important components of arctic rabies in Nunavik from 1999 to 2012, following a “One Health” approach: animal rabies tests and confirmed cases, dog vaccination, and human consultations for potential rabies exposures. Forty-four cases of rabies, involving mainly arctic and red foxes, were confirmed in animals during this period. The mean number of dogs vaccinated per 1,000 inhabitants was highly variable and lower in the Hudson region than the Ungava region. 112 consultations for potential rabies exposure were analyzed, of which 24 were exposure to a laboratory confirmed rabid animal. Children less than 10 years of age were the age group most commonly exposed. The median time between potential exposure and administration of the first post-exposure prophylaxis dose was four days. This study confirms that the risk of human exposure to rabid animals in Nunavik is present and underlines the need to follow a “One Health” approach to prevent rabies in humans in similar contexts worldwide.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Michelle Dionne and Magaly Pépin from the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec for putting together vaccination data, Manon Simard from the Nunavik Research Center for useful information on Nunavik regional characteristics, and staff from the CFIA Centre of Expertise for Rabies and CQSAS for the laboratory analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Groupe international vétérinaire, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, 3200 Sicotte, C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, J2S 7C6, Canada

    Cécile Aenishaenslin, Audrey Simon, André Ravel & Denise Bélanger

  2. Groupe de recherche en épidémiologie des zoonoses et santé publique, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, 3200 Sicotte, C.P. 5000, Saint-Hyacinthe, QC, J2S 7C6, Canada

    Cécile Aenishaenslin, Audrey Simon, André Ravel & Denise Bélanger

  3. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 4N1, Canada

    Taya Forde

  4. Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, C.P. 900, Kuujjuaq, QC, J0M 1C0, Canada

    Jean-François Proulx

  5. Centre of Expertise for Rabies, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), 3851 Fallowfield Road, Ottawa, ON, K2H 8P9, Canada

    Christine Fehlner-Gardiner

  6. Ministère de l’Agriculture des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ), 200 chemin Sainte-Foy, Québec, QC, G1R 4X6, Canada

    Isabelle Picard

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  1. Cécile Aenishaenslin
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  2. Audrey Simon
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  3. Taya Forde
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  4. André Ravel
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  5. Jean-François Proulx
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  6. Christine Fehlner-Gardiner
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  7. Isabelle Picard
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  8. Denise Bélanger
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Correspondence to Cécile Aenishaenslin.

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Aenishaenslin, C., Simon, A., Forde, T. et al. Characterizing Rabies Epidemiology in Remote Inuit Communities in Québec, Canada: A “One Health” Approach. EcoHealth 11, 343–355 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-014-0923-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-014-0923-1

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